Gun Control

Let’s talk about gun control and how to protect our kids, our future, and our society.

The only shooting I ever want to see is this type, someone shooting on goal.


Gun control starts years before anyone even thinks about picking up a gun.

Let’s start with respect. Respect your parents. Respect your elders. Respect yourself and others and others’ property. Respect your teachers.

Partners – respect and love your chosen partner and do your part to create love and peace in your home daily. Honor one another.

Do your work. Always. And stop complaining. Just do it. Doing the work takes discipline and discipline is needed in just about anything you value.

Be more self less and less self entitled.

Hold the door open for others.

Give love and respect freely.

Understand and feel compassion for others.

Practice the art of connection. Smiles are free. Look someone in the eye and greet them. Call your mom. Call your grandmother. Call your best friend. Return a text message or voicemail or email in a reasonable amount of time.

Be friendly. Be a good friend. Celebrate your friends’ gifts.

Call of duty means something significant. A call of duty is to serve and to protect our country. It’s not hours spent in front of a video screen playing a violent game and feeling nothing.

Go outside and play and run around and learn to be responsible and to get along with others in your neighborhood.

Exercise.

Know your neighbors and talk to them.

Give back to your community without expecting anything in return. Help one another.

Mental illness is real and we need to talk about it more. We need better systems to treat and medicate those with this illness and to support the family members who bear the responsibility for their loved ones with this type of incapacitation.

Have empathy and try to understand how lucky you are and how others might not be as fortunate as you.

Make time for family dinners or a family breakfast or a family walk. Make time to see and to listen to each other and to connect with your family members. You are important to them and they are important to you.

Follow your moral compass. Religious institutions provide structure and purpose. Choose yours wisely and give of yourself to your beloved institution.

Be mindful. Think before you act.

Go to bed and sleep 8-10 hours. We are sleep deprived and we need more sleep to be healthier.

Make your bed every morning.

Choose the harder right versus doing what’s instantly satisfying.

Work. Then play. In that order.

Laugh. It feels good.

Be nice.

Be okay.

If we collectively practice what we value, maybe we’ll create more happiness, love and light in this world.  One Love.

We’ll practice gun control by keeping them locked up in safes to protect us from evil instead of creating evil acts with them.

The best gun control happens between your ears.

nAMaste

See One Another

  
We all live under this one big sky and it’s a beautiful thing.

The next person you come in contact with, really see them. Say hello and acknowledge their presence, even if they are a little weird or different than you. We are all weird. 

Be curious . Don’t be afraid. We all are the same on the inside.

This world needs more love and acceptance. We can make the difference by loving everyone we meet, from within our hearts, through our actions and with our intentions. Go ahead and smile first. Strike up a conversation. It’s so easy. You can make a difference just by being you.

Oregon – I wish you peace and am so sad and angry that so many lives were sacrificed and harmed because someone didn’t think they were enough today. I am so sorry for your unexplainable loss. 

You are enough, BeLoveRs. 

nAMaste.

Be Courageous

The Pope sent a message of courage that I love. I believe in One Love, that we are all connected in our humanity however we choose to believe or not believe as long as we are practicing living with love as our intention.  If we look closely, we are more alike than we are different. The world is especially feeling this with the Syrian refugee crisis and feeling a connection to the family whose little boy drowned on the beach in Turkey.

“Pope Francis and the People” aired on ABC News’ “20/20” on Friday, Sept. 4, at 10 p.m. ET. The event is posted in its entirety on ABCNews.com. http://abcnews.go.com/beta/US/pope-francis-tells-americans-courageous-abc-news-virtual/story?id=33490392

Here are some of the highlights:

“We are all created for friendship in society. All of us bear responsibility for everyone else,” the pope said. “And each one has to make a choice in his or her heart. And we have to help that choice to be made in the heart. ….” Pope Francis

We are social beings and we need our friends and neighbors to walk with us on this life journey.

“What I hope for from youth is for you all not to walk alone in life,” he said. “Life is very difficult. It’s difficult to walk alone. You get lost. You get confused. You can find the wrong path or you can be walking around in circles, in a maze, or worst, you can stop because you get tired of walking in life. Always walk hand-in-hand with someone who loves you, someone who gives you tenderness.” – Pope Francis

BeLoveD.

BeLoveRs change the world, with every thought, every word, and with every action.

One Love.

xo

Living in the Moment

Yes, I am.

Today, in the heat!!

Got up early to hike with my Julie girl but we were already too late and the sweat was sticking to all parts of our bodies. It was THAT hot and there was no breeze, but we endured.  So thankful that we made the time to exercise and chat, and celebrated the hot moment.  

I took the kids to the pool and was going to just drop them off with a friend, as I had a huge list of things I wanted to accomplish and was being given a chance to be alone for awhile, but changed my mind. I decided to stay and instead sat on a lawn chair with my friend and relaxed and cooled off and caught up with her for awhile, since I am practicing not being in a hurry.  It felt so good to sit and rest in the shade, out of the hot house and having a friend with whom to share the afternoon as we enjoyed our kids too. This is what living in the moment looks like.

And then tonight, I got the “pleasure” of continuing to drive the kids around across town to their appointments. One at 6:30 pm, one at 7 pm, then got gas, and drove straight to pick one up at 7:30 pm and then ate a little bit and got back in the car again to admire the sun setting and dancing in the sky to pick the next one up at 8:30 pm.  This was actually quite peaceful and made me smile.  Check out what the sky can do!!

   
  
And since my little one was running 20 minutes late, I relaxed in the car, put my feet up and watched the pink moon rise up.  What lovely gifts I received by not being in a hurry today and being fully present and in the moment.  This is the life! 
Of course, this living in the moment deal, also included anxiety and frustration and messes but those things aren’t so pretty nor fun to talk about, so I choose to leave out those little details when I write my happily ever after post about BEing in the moment. Perfectly imperfect, remember, with LOTS of imperfections along the way!

How did you enjoy living in the moment today? What brought you joy?

nAMaste BeLoveRs!!! 

BE the change you want to see and feel in this beautiful world!!

Practicing One Love

I am so sad about the shootings in South Carolina. I don’t understand hate and I acknowledge it exists. I just don’t understand why we have to hate those that are different from us. 

I love everyone and want to know everyone’s story and culture and history. I want to celebrate our differences and learn from each other.  I want to celebrate each others’ rituals and live it up together and lift each other up.

I want us all to learn how to get along and to see our connected humanity.  We are one love, BeLoveRs. It’s really not all that complicated.
Today was our family’s last day of volunteering all week at Vacation Bible School. I know we don’t all believe in the same faiths, but what I do know is that we love our communities and what brings us together.   We shared a common experience this week and practiced one love and I hope that our practice makes a small difference in our one little world. 

  
nAMaste BeLoveRs

Untraditional Traditions

My family is weird. Our tradition is to not have a tradition. We carry some traditions, but we are not wedded to any. 

We do what we love and we are happy.  Our family does not live close to us, so we don’t feel a sense of obligation to be together. We come together when we want and that’s a pretty cool thing.

Today is Easter and we celebrated at home! Yay, for being home.

Charlie loves the holidays and we were up by 6:30 am to see if the Easter bunny came.

  

 

 We still partook in the Easter tradition of waking up early to see if the baskets were filled and the eggs hidden throughout the house and yard.  The Easter bunny did not disappoint!  

   

 

However, the big kids were wishing to have slept in.

We made bagels with lox and toppings for breakfast and then we headed out to church at 9am. 

  

 It was an early start to the day, but felt good to be out and about early this morning. I loved hearing the message of how Jesus rose from the dead, and how his mother Mary suffered by his grave and weeped. She represents all women, especially those who have lost a child. And she provides hope and love for us all that one day, all will be well.

After church, our family decided to be weird and I loved it. Jeff and the boys went to an Earthquakes soccer game with friends and I prepared an untraditional Easter feast, to be prepared whenever everyone came home again. 

We made yakitori, rice, seaweed salad, broccoli and mini wontons.  Doesn’t that just sound delicious? None of us were in the mood for another ham.

Juliana and I had the time of our lives. We saw on Instagram that Yoga Girl, Rachel Brathen,  was hosting a top secret yoga class and only 40 people would be able to attend. We thought we had no chance, but we emailed the secret contact and were chosen to be the guests!! 

  

We were so happy and hurried up at home so that we could make the late afternoon drive to the East Bay.  I had met the instructor @OGYogini at the end of class yesterday in San Francisco, and when she saw me today, she gave me a big hug and told me she was glad I was there. I love our little world.  I loved seeing Rachel again and sharing yoga with Juliana. We enjoyed the car ride together, just the two of us alone and then the yoga experience.

I loved that the guys got to go out and play and Juliana and I got to be out together too, and then we all came back together again to have a late dinner all together again. 

 It was a perfectly imperfect and weird Easter. We went with the flow and did what we enjoyed and everyone was happy. 

 Life is good. 

 Life is beautiful. 

 Life is what we make it.

Take time to dream and to make time for what you love and take good care of wonderful you! 

 nAMaste BeLoveRs.  You are loved!!

xoxo

The Happiness Tour – Yoga Girl in SF

It was a beautiful day to celebrate a birthday and be with girlfriends this weekend.

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I love San Francisco.

I love time away with my girlfriends and I love yoga.

We spent the morning enjoying a delightful breakfast and then walked to the ferry building, stopping along the way to shop with the street vendors on Market Street. We had a blast and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We were in the city to take a yoga class with Rachel Brathen at the Regency Ballroom on Van Ness.

Her class was amazing and full of love and light and good yoga!!

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We were so happy to be there, celebrating S’s birthday, enjoying new poses and learning from Yoga Girl!

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It was just one of those days where everything is right in the world at this moment.

It was the first stop on The Happiness Tour and we were giddy! I think she’s onto something big!!

I Am happy and tired, so goodnight BeLoveRs. Live your dream, one day at a time!!

xo

nAMaste

Happiness Awaits

I was in a bad mood today. I was frustrated and irrational.

Yes, it’s true. Just ask my family. I have my neurotic moments. I hate these feelings as much as they do.

I thought about my post from yesterday about happiness, asking myself if I was happy and I was definitely not, at that moment. I like to practice what I share. I asked myself, “do you want to be happy?” And at that moment I wanted to be mad and did not want to release and let go. I stayed mad and quiet and wanted to feel what I was feeling, but not for long.

I received a text from my friend saying just the right words at the right time. We were supposed to meet up and I was running late.

Wanna know what her text said?

It was so simple and perfect timing.

It said, “Happiness Awaits.” How did she even know? She didn’t and that was a beautiful thing.

That’s all I needed to read to change my angry mind.

I was ready to be happy again and gave myself the rest of the car ride to get over myself.

I decided to make a change. I chose to be happy and believe it or not, was. I let go. I surrendered and enjoyed myself despite what I was feeling 10 minutes before. It was that simple and that sincere. No joke.

Our minds are so flippin’ powerful. We just have to decide what we really want and surrender. We have to be focused and determined and have to fight for what we really want, and not allow our irrational feelings win.

Love wins.

Happiness awaits.

When we choose.

Be happy, BeLoveRs. It’s so much better than the alternative.

Namaste.

Love Month

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It’s Valentine’s Month. I know – typically we call it Valentine’s Day, but I love to celebrate love every day, and even more so during the days of February. Yes, I am sappy, but you already know that.

I had some grand plans to create special valentine’s for one person each day during the month, but instead I’ve set an intention for each special someone each day and have gotten so far as to send a quick text message.

I’m not sure that counts 100%, but maybe it counts for the thought? And for the moment that I’m writing to my BeLoveD, I do think of them with love and also about what I love about them.

Yes, my life is busy and full just the way I love it to be – and I haven’t made this Love Project the top of my priority list, even though it should be!! I’d like to think that I’m loving those in my circle of love by cooking and cleaning and shopping and chatting and driving here and there and working on spreadsheets and sharing great visions. Yeah, that’s it – I feel better now. I’m still spreading the love, just in a different way than I had originally intended and it’s a beautiful thing.

I think we should celebrate each other while we’re alive and give thanks for those who make our lives awesome by being in it together with whatever gifts they bring, even if that’s just with a quick text to say hi, I see you and miss you and love you, bye. In your own words, of course. 🙂

Who do you love? Have you told them lately? I bet they would love to hear it from you.

Spread the love BeLoveRs – it’s free and powerful and feels great! No calories. xoxo